218 FEEDING ANIMALS. 



be in line, so that holes may easily be bored in the plates 

 to receive them ; or, instead of one plate 8 x 10 inches, it 

 is better to place two 8x8 plates side by side, and both 

 just reach across the wall. In this case the bolts in the 

 wall come between the two sticks. In this case the two 

 plates are bolted together at each end and in the middle. 



These plates are framed for short posts 4 or 5 feet long, 

 upon which 6 x 6-inch plates are placed for the roof to rest 

 upon. This space between the top of the wall and the 

 roof is usually occupied by swinging doors, which are 

 closed after the silo is filled, but it may all be boarded up 

 except such doors as are wanted for filling the silo ; and 

 when it is desired to get as much as possible into the silo, 

 temporary boarding is carried above the wall even with the 

 inside and the ensilage is piled above the wall two or three 

 feet before the weighted cover is put on, and the com- 

 pressed ensilage only sinks a very little below the top of 

 the wall. 



The inside of the walls of the silo is given an even coat 

 of cement, thoroughly troweled down. The bottom is also 

 cemented so as to make the whole air and water-tight. 

 And should it be desired to give a sandstone color to the 

 outside wall, this can be done by mixing one-fiftieth part 

 of oxide of iron with the cement and plaster the outside. 

 The doors should be double, one hung inside and the other 

 outside. The inside door should be hung so as to shut 

 even with the inside wall, be in two parts, and swing out. 

 Felting should be placed on the jams, so that the inside 

 doors will shut air-tight. The outside door should be made 

 in three parts, -fastened together with hinges, the upper 

 part only 10 inches wide, and should be fitted to the out- 

 side jams of the door so as to be screwed fast, one section 

 at a time, beginning with the lower section. The space 

 between the two doors should be filled with sawdust, 

 packed in, and the upper section is so narrow that the 



